Arsenal fans have already been hearing good things about this young Gunner, and the fact that he made both his Premier League and Champions League debuts for the club last season shows just how much Arsene Wenger thinks of Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
But the 17-year old was not one of the young Guns given a chance to impress by the boss in pre-season, either in the Asia Trophy or the Emirates cup games, so it is nice to hear that he has already been very impressive since he moved to the Championship club Ipswich Town last month on a season long loan deal.
As reported by ESPN, Maitland-Niles has been wowing his new manager, the hugely experienced Mick McCarthy, with his amazing abilities. And after helping his new club this Tuesday by providing an assist for David McGoldrick to score the winning goal against Burnley, McCarthy was full of praise for the young player.
As well as revealing that the Arsenal starlet is a pleasure to work with, the Ipswich boss has backed the talented winger to go on and forge a great career with the Gunners, as long as he keeps putting in the effort on the training pitch of course.
He said, “Wow. The talent of him; I think he’s going to play for Arsenal, there’s no doubt in my mind. We are just so lucky to have him.”
“Nobody knew anything about him. I watched him play against Reading for [Arsenal’s] under-21s last season and I thought he was great. I enquired about him in January, but they needed him for their Champions League squad.
“He’s such a lovely kid and all, he’s fitted in perfectly. What’s nice for him is we’ve got Josh Emmanuel, Myles Kenlock, Adam McDonnell and Teddy Bishop, they’re his age and peers.
“I had the conversation with him ‘I know you can play, but if you don’t run around and don’t put a shift in you won’t play’ but he’s a workaholic.”
So as well as it seeming as though Maitland-Niles has gone to the right club this season, where he will be appreciated but also made to work hard on his game, the player that Wenger has already called something special, seems to have the right attitude as well and will surely soon be impressing in the red and white of Arsenal.